


Flashback

by Izua



Category: UTAU
Genre: Backstory, Multi, idkwhattoputinthetags, willputmorelater
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-11-30 11:09:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11462349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izua/pseuds/Izua





	1. 1

_"Sounon?"_

 

_Five year old Sounon looks up from his coloring book to look at his father, big eyes curious as always and of course the brightest thing in the dusty, dimly lit den inside the small cabin they lived in outside city limits. He was coloring in a rose that was on the page he had open, but he constantly failed to stay within the lines, turning it into a mess of unruly scribbles, but that didn't make it any less artistic to him._

 

_Sounon's father was a tall, wiry man, with a strong build and a sad face. He had gray eyes and dark hair cut short at all times because it required less maintenance and was therefore easier and cheaper to maintain. He and his son shared certain physical traits, but as far as the most dominant ones went--hair color, eyes, etc--...that all came from his mother._

 

 _Sounon never had the chance to meet his mother; she was weak during his conception and had grown even weaker during his growth in the womb, and it resulted in her passing away during birth. But he's heard a lot about her. According to his father, she was tall, too. And pretty. She had thick amber hair just like Sounon's and shocking emerald eyes, and fair skin. She almost sounded like a fairy to him, and he was sometimes a little disappointed he never got to meet her because of that._ She could have been a Disney Princess, _he thought._

 

_His father was nurturing enough and definitely loved and cared for his son, but what the boy noticed but couldn't understand at such an age, was his severe depression. He was withdrawn. He disassociated himself from life in general every day. He was distant, even with his only child, and it often lead to Sounon not getting nearly enough attention. He was very well taken care of as far as food and finances go, because even in their severely poverty-stricken household, his father always did his best to keep him properly cared for. But when it came to emotional connection and care, the resources ran incredibly thin. Sounon has gotten used to not getting much attention from his dad, and even if it confuses and upsets him a lot, he's learned to stay quiet; nothing will change even if he didn't, it seemed._

 

_His father beckons to him. He seems to be tense for some reason, and he's clearly dressed to go someplace. He stood in front of the briefcase he had behind him but Sounon still noticed it. "C'mon, my boy," he says. "Let's get a few of your things and go. We're headed out."_

 

_Sounon immediately gets excited. He loves road trips, but never has many chances to go on them at leisure because of the expense that came with fuel for the car. He jumps up off the floor. "Okay!"_

 

_"Bring some of your clothing, and a few toys if you want," Says his father. "We might be gone for a while."_

 

_Being a child, Sounon completely missed the double meaning behind that statement, and instead got even more excited. He ran off to the room he shared with his father and pulled out a step stool from under the bed so that he could stand on it to reach the top drawer of the dresser. He pulls out his all time favorite T-shirts and his two only pairs of pants and lays them out on the bed._

 

_His father steps into the room, sighing softly through his nose. "Pack lightly, Sous. Here, I'll help you." He kneels down and pulls Sounon's school backpack out from under the bed and starts packing the clothing his son had laid out. "You won't need that much clothing. Go get something you'd like to take with you, okay?"_

 

_That was an issue. Sounon liked a lot of things. "Hmm.." He rests his chin on his fist in concentration as he thinks, thoughtfully scrunching up his freckled nose._

 

_Of course, it was a no brainer--even as a lover who liked everything in the universe, naturally there was that one thing he was particularly fond of above all things. He bolts to get it before his father can notice his antics._

 

_Since the fireplace was always left dead during the summer anyway, he hid it there. He felt around in the ashes until his small baby fingers hit the object he was looking for. He scooped it into his palm and backed out, quickly patting his hands on his shirt to get rid of any sign of ash that might be on them._

 

_It was a ring. More specifically, his mother's ring--at least, that's what he was told. It wasn't anything significant like her engagement or wedding ring; it was a stage ring, something she probably wore every now and then with her particularly fancy outfits. The band was plain silver but had hundreds of tiny, shimmering rainbow flecks engraved in it, catching the light at all angles and throwing the rays off to create a mirage of sparkles on top of the silver. The shinyness of this item was one of the things that majorly caught his eye. Even with an adjustable band, the ring could never fit his small fingers properly; but he still liked to keep it on hand whenever he went places, just in case. Sounon didn't have much in the way of toys or significant belongings, so even at his age, he knew how valuable this item was._

 

_He loiters in the living room for a while admiring his possession until his father comes to join him and he quickly stuffs it in his pocket._

 

_"Do you have everything? We have to go now." Says his father, handing down his backpack. "We can't be late."_

 

_"Wait!" Sounon goes to pick up the coloring book on the floor. He carefully folds it into the backpack with his clothing, along with a few odd colors of crayons. "Okay! I'm ready!"_

 

_His father takes his hand and they both walk outside. Sounon is lead to the car and guided into the car seat in the back, and he watches from behind the cracked windows as his dad locks the door on the house and then comes back to get behind the wheel._

 

_The car spits and wheezes a few times in its struggle to start up and then they're off. Sounon hardly pays attention to the road and instead ends up drifting off eventually, the rocking of the old vehicle traveling over loose gravel for miles lulling him to sleep. He dreams about a meadow of roses just like the one he was coloring in his book._

 

_Several miles of flat country terrain have passed and they've been on the road for some time before suddenly they come to a halt, jolting Sounon awake. He rubs his sleepy eyes and wipes the drool away from his mouth, blinking tiredly and looking around. They're in a town of some sort, it seems... but not one he recognizes. "Daddy?"_

 

_His dad gets out of the car and then comes around to the back seat, opening the door and unbuckling his son to help him out. He picks up the backpack for him and starts to lead him towards whatever building they'd stopped at._

 

 _"Where are we?" Asks Sounon. "Is this a friend's house? Is this the market?" He gets really excited. He loves markets. However, this place looks more like a house than a market... an old, slightly run down, but still very big house. He can see kids' toys in the yard and a picket fence surrounding a small playground nearby. He furrows his brows, confused._  


_"A friend's house, maybe..." His dad mumbles softly, becoming extremely distant. He holds the door open for Sounon and ushers him in. The day was an extremely hot one and the air conditioning felt like an instant relief to them. "Now... Sounon." He gets down on one knee and puts his hands on his son's shoulders, trying to make him focus. "The thing is... I have to go out of town for a few days."_

 

_Sounon immediately gets worried. His bottom lip starts trembling. "W-Why?"_

 

_"Aww... don't cry, son. It's a business thing. That's good, right?" His father ruffles his hair playfully. "With a job, I'll have more money, and then I can take you out for ice cream more, right? I'll be back in a few days. No doubt about it."_

 

_"Promise?" Sounon whispers. He puts his small hand out. "Pinkie swear." He believed pinkie swears were the most unbreakable promises known to man._

 

_His dad chuckles softly and links his pinkie around his son's, sealing the deal. "Promise. This is strictly a business thing. Now, the people living here are friends, okay? They're going to watch after you while I'm gone. And don't worry about being bored because there are lots and lots of kids here to hang out with. Doesn't that sound fun?"_

 

_Sounon nods, smiling a little._

 

_His father smiles back at him. "Good. They're already expecting you so whenever someone comes around just tell them your name and they'll take care of you. Don't mention my name though; they already know me, so it's not needed." He kisses Sounon's head. "Behave for me, okay? I need to go before I'm late. I'll be back. Bye bye!"_

 

_Sounon stands there and waves until he is no longer in view, and then he goes and sits down in a chair, kicking his legs back and forth as he patiently waits for someone to come out and help get him situated for the next few days._

 

_Or... longer. Because his father never came back._

 

Someone is crying, and it wrenches Sounon out of his sleep immediately. He sits up in his bed and touches his face, confused. His fingers come away wet. _Ah, I did it again..._

 

But it wasn't his crying he's hearing. He's a silent crier, but whoever was sobbing in the room was being very loud about it, so it's obviously one of the other kids in the orphanage.

 

He sighs softly and unrolls one of his sleeves so that he can wipe the tears away. _It's been five years... why is that all I can remember?_ He sits in his bed taking deep breaths, trying to refresh himself and cover up the fact that he's been crying in his sleep again. He feels so heavy; almost like someone had layered several wet towels on top of him. All of his emotions felt numb and capped off, sealed away from existence. It's been like this for so long that it's no longer a concern for him; it's nothing but the usual norm at this point. _  
_

 

Even so, he can't just let that be the reason he lays around moping all day. He has no actual obligation to take are of his children here; it's more like a natural calling to him, and laying around sulking all day while someone needs him would be going against that calling of his. So after about a minute of quickly pulling it together, he slides out of his bed on the top bunk in the room he shares with a few other kids and  looks around, trying to locate the crying child.  


Knowing exactly where this particular kid would be, he walks over to the bed on the other side of the room and gets on his knees, looking under it with a smile. "Hi there, Lily. What's the matter?"

 

Lily, who is a couple years younger and thin as a stick, looks up at Sounon with a dirty, tearsteaked face, her unwashed hair matted with dust. She is one of the kids known to the orphanage as a bit of a misfit. Her brain doesn't work the same way as all the other kids' do and her sense of touch is extremely sensitive. She's a very emotional girl and spends most of her time here crying over one thing or another, so this would come as no surprise to anyone. Because of her condition and how hard she was to control, nobody bothers to stop her from going into the boys' wing at her own will anymore.

 

She sniffs and wipes her nose on the back of her hand, smearing tears everywhere. "I..." Her voice breaks and she lets out a painful sigh, shaking a little. "I don't like that kid from the girls' wing! She says bad t-things to me..." She bursts into a loud, heartwrenching fit of tears.

 

Sounon gently pulls her out from under the bed. "Aw, c'mere. Come on now. You don't have to stay under the bed like that; you can sit with me instead. I'm a nice guy." He pulls her onto his lap and sits there on the floor hugging her trembling body, remaining silent because he knows that talking to her in this state would be pointless. Instead, he just sits and smiles for her, because if she can't do it and he hasn't smiled for himself in years, he may as well offer it to someone else.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Sounon follows Lily through the densely shadowed yard, clutching a flashlight with one hand and holding the girl's hand with the other. "I really don't like this idea, Lil..." he mumbles softly, looking around anxiously.

 

"Shh!" She looks back at him and puts a finger to her lips, puffing out her cheeks to silence him. "It's okay! We'll be back before anyone has a chance to notice we're gone. I just want to get away for a little while." She skips onward, pulling him with her to the wooden fence that surrounds the property of the orphanage.

 

He sighs softly, gently biting his lip in attempt to refrain from protesting any further. He knows Lily well enough to know that it'll do no good... and besides, it's not like he could particularly blame her for wanting to get away for a while. She was one of the kids who always had an excessively rough time living at the orphanage; not many of the kids there liked her or even bothered trying to understand her. Knowing that he probably would have made the same plan if he were in her shoes made him hold his tongue. "Only for an hour or so, okay? We don't know when someone might check our rooms or something, and I don't want to get in trouble..."

 

Leaving the flashlight off for extra coverage in the darkness, Lily leads him to the fence and feels around the planks blindly, clearly searching for something; a weak spot. Sounon watches, intrigued, and raises his eyebrows with surprise when she pushes on a board to make it flip upward, gaining way for the kids to get through. _I knew she could be sneaky but I never imagined she'd go as far as to plan something like this_ , he thought. _How long has she been doing this for, anyway?_ He keeps his questions to himself and instead briefly glances around the yard, not only checking the coast but also mentally mapping out and memorizing the location of the weak spot in the fence and how they got to it--for future reference.

 

Being much smaller in stature than he is, Lily slips deftly through the space in the fence with no issue. Sounon, however, finds that it takes at least a tiny bit of maneuvering to get himself through soundlessly and unscathed. When they're both through he hears Lily giggling softly to herself in the darkness.

 

"See? Easy, huh?" She says, looking up at him with a grin that was missing a few teeth.

 

He rolls his eyes and smirks a little, placing his hand on her head and screwing up her hair. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Where are we going, then?"

She crosses her eyes and taps her chin thoughtfully, pretending to think even though it's obvious she'd settled on her intentions long in advance. "I want to go to... the park! Come on! And keep the flashlight off until we're away from the orphanage." She takes his hand and starts running, keeping him in tow.

 

The park is only a fifteen minute walk from the orphanage and Sounon spends his time observing his surroundings as they go. It's 2 A.M. and everything in the world is chilly and damp and shrouded in darkness. It's very quiet, too, for this time of night. He's rarely allowed to go anywhere outside of the orphanage unless it was a special occasion or he was being escorted by one of the workers, so getting to see the world this way--even if he had to break the rules to do so--was fascinating to him.

 

Sounon loved the night time. He loved how silent and peaceful everything was; how everything smelled of wet grass slick with dew and how all natural sounds were amplified in the dead of night. He could hear the crickets chirping and the tree frogs croaking. It was relaxing to him... and it was beautiful. Truth be told, he loved every time of day regardless of what season it was... but he wasn't about to let anyone know about that.

 

When they get to the park Lily jumps up and down and claps her hands excitedly. "We're here! And look, nobody is here. We have it all to ourselves! Sounon, play with me!" She pulls on him and he laughs, conceding.

 

"Okay, okay... jeez." He lets her drag him around, taking him to different parts of the park to play on all the different kinds of equipment. She loves the slides, and she convinces him to go down them with her about fifteen times before he finally begins to resist, needing to rest. He goes and flops down in the grass someplace, breathing a little heavily.

 

Lily follows him and rolls onto her back next to him, folding her hands on her chest. They both look at the stars in silence for a while before she inevitably begins to talk again. She's known to be a chatterbox and she never stays quiet for longer than a few minutes. "Who do you think put the stars in the sky, Sous? How did they get up there?"

 

Sounon chuckles softly at the ridiculous question but decides to humor her by playing along; let her have her fun. "I don't know. Do you think maybe a really tall man put them up there for us?"

 

She frowns. "That can't be," She decides. "There are so many of them up there, his arms would get tired."

 

"Maybe he took a whole handful of them and threw them at the sky, then," He says, rolling over onto his side and propping his head up on one hand to look at her. "Or maybe some clumsy kid in Heaven tripped and spilled them all over the place."

 

Lily bursts out laughing, clutching her stomach. "Oh no! Imagine having to clean that all up."

 

He shrugs. "I don't see why you'd need to clean it up." He tilts his head, looking at the sky again. "It's pretty. Maybe someone made a mistake but it was a happy mistake that everyone can live with, y'know. Everyone likes stars, right?"

 

"Mm... I guess so. I don't know anyone who hates them." She adopts a serious and contemplative expression as she stares at the sky. "But sometimes people like to hate things for no reason. Like a lot of people hate me. I don't know why though." She looks over at him. "Do you know?"

 

He shakes his head with a small sigh. "Sometimes people just need something to hate, but it doesn't always make sense. People hate me, too, but I never did anything to them. It just happens." _Maybe my dad hated me, too._

 

"That's mean. People are buttheads," Says Lily, sticking out her lower lip with a frown. "If they don't like you, then I don't like them, either. There."

 

Sounon smiles a bit. "Buttheads, huh? You said it better than I could've." He lays back down. "There are people who love you, though. I like you a lot. I think you're pretty okay."

 

She beams, looking pleased. "Really...?" She twiddles her thumbs.

 

"Of course. And someday you'll find a boy who loves you too, and maybe you'll get married. Doesn't that sound cool?"

   
"Ew! No!" Lily makes a noise and looks disgusted. "Never! Boys are _gross!_ I hate them. Except for you, but you're hardly a boy."

 

He snorts. _"Ouch."_

 

She goes quiet for a few minutes and Sounon can tell she's thinking pretty hard about something. And he knows Lily; once she decides on what she wants to say, she is _not_ afraid to say it. She's a girl of many words and next to no shame to spare. Nothing holds her back from being honest. So he shouldn't have been nearly as surprised as he was when the subject took a sharp turn. "Hey Sous, how come you came to my orphanage? What happened to you mommy and daddy?"

 

Sounon shrugs. He considers either lying or dodging the subject completely, but he assesses the situation and he doesn't see that he has much to lose. Lily is the first of the kids at the orphanage to ask such a question, and what's the worst that could happen from explaining? "My mama got sick and she passed away when she gave birth to me... that's what everyone told me. Papa took me here and he just left me a long time ago." He swallows, trying to get past the sudden lump in his throat. _Get over it._ "He hasn't been back since."

 

"Oh..." Lily sounds kind of disheartened and she sniffs a little. "T-That's not nice! I bet your mommy was really pretty, even if you _are_ a stinker. Do you think your daddy will come back?"

 

"Hm..." He leans back and gazes up at the stars. He feels the one and only emotion he's been capable of feeling for so long creep up on him--sorrow. He feels his eyes get moist and he blinks back the tears, making sure his voice is steady when he speaks. "Maybe," he concludes. Of course, he was lying. It's been five years already; he's lost hope of his father ever coming back. "You've been here for a long time, huh?"

"Mmmhm," Lily hums softly, seeming completely unbothered by it. "Ever since I was a tiny baby, I think. I don't remember very much, but... sometimes the other kids tell me I was left behind because I'm special. Because my brain doesn't work the same as everyone else's, and it's a burden." She picks at the grass, tearing a blade into a bunch of tiny slivers before throwing it up into the air, watching it fall like confetti. "I don't know what that word means, though. Is it bad?"

 

"Sometimes it can be. Listen, ignore those kids, okay?" Says Sounon firmly, looking back at her. She seems unfazed, but he knows being bullied about the way she was born really bothers her. "Your brain is perfectly fine. It's just as good as any other brain."

 

"Yeah but... sometimes I forget things a lot and people call me stupid because I can't pay attention."

 

"So what? I forget things all the time too. It's normal. The only kind of special you are is the good kind of special." He rolls over to her and pokes her in the stomach. "They'll regret saying mean things to you someday, you know. But until then, let's ignore them, okay?"

 

Lily squeals and giggles when he pokes her. "D-Don't! That tickles!" She gets up and glomps onto him, tackling him to the ground. "Take that!"

 

"Ah! Oh no, man down, man down!" Sounon flops around on the ground, intentionally letting Lily have the physical advantage over him to make her feel better about herself. They both wrestle around in the grass until he becomes 'defeated' and lays limp on his stomach with the little girl sitting triumphantly on his back.

 

"See? And anyone who wants to touch me better watch out because I'll beat them up too!!" She jumps to her feet and throws her hands in the air, celebrating.

 

Sounon goes to say something in response but something catches his attention, interrupting him. He hears the tinny, high pitched sound of chains moving in the wind, almost like... _"The swings."_ He whispers softly. _"Lily, do you hear that?"_

 

Interrupted from her own tirade, she freezes. "Huh? Hear what?"

 

"Get down on the ground!" He hisses, beckoning towards her. "We can't get caught. I think someone's here!"

 

"Really? Who?!" Lily gets excited and looks around quickly, happy to have a visitor but being unable to see who or where they are.

 

Sounon slowly stands up and places his hand on her shoulder. "Follow me. I wanna see who's here, but I don't want to get caught either, so I have to hide..." He sneaks his way behind a tree that's closer to the park and the general direction of the swing set, pacing himself in a way he hopes would be nearly silent and extremely hard to notice. From there he goes through a succession of sneaking from tree to tree, until he's crouching down behind a bench just at the edge of the playground. He slowly pokes his head over the back of the bench to look, and he sees...

 

A girl. Or, he _thinks_ it's a girl, at least. All he can see is the silhouette of a small, almost fragile looking figure sitting on one of the swings in the darkness, their small hands wrapped around the chain links and their head bowed down as if they're studying something on the ground. The person is very obviously short, given their feet hang far off the ground, making it a miracle they even managed to get up on the swing without falling off to begin with.

 

"Hey! Who is that?!" Lily whispers loudly, startling Sounon. He puts a finger to his lips and shushes her before going back to inspecting the unknown person.

 

Amidst the strain of the dying park lights and the dim moonlight from above, Sounon can see wispy dark hair and the glint of bandages wrapped around an elbow and the back of the person's hand. They are completely sedentary, hardly moving a muscle where they sit, the only movement coming from when the wind blows _just_ hard enough to startle the balance of the swing they're sitting on.

 

But above everything... he can hear the sound of someone crying. It's so faint it can hardly be heard; it's obvious that whoever is sitting on the swing is trying their best to hold back their sobs but failing nonetheless. He feels a pang in his heart; it's almost as if he can feel their pain. He makes a small, sad noise under his breath. _What do I do? This can't be a kid from the orphanage. Definitely not. But... what's someone besides us doing out at an hour like this? It looks like they're hurt. Aaah what do I do? Is it safe to approach them...? I'm getting really weird vibes from this..._

 

Suddenly Lily is jumping out in an outburst of energy. "Hey!" She yells, waving frantically. "Hey! You over there! Hey!" The kid on the swing seems startled to the point of almost falling off their swing. "What are you doing? Do you wanna play with us? You look lonely!"

  
  
"L-Lily!" Sounon hisses, reaching out and dragging her back behind the bench with him. "What did I say? What were you thinking?! That's so dangerous!  We don't know who this person is. What if we get caught?"

 

She pouts and squirms against him. "Come on! That person is all alone, what if she wants to hang out? We can play together! Let me go!" She wiggles stealthily out of his grasp and runs off.

 

He throws himself out from behind the bench, heart beating wildly against his ribcage with anxiety. "Lily!" He yells. He goes to run after her but stops in his tracks when he sees she's come to an immediate halt only a few feet away.

 

"Wh--She's gone!" Lily exclaims, sounding upset by the revelation.

 

Sounon jogs up to her side to take a look for himself and he sees that it's true. The swing is now empty and swaying back and forth in the wind from the sudden lack of weight to anchor it down, its chains clacking together from the force of being abandoned by whoever was just occupying it. He turns his eyes to the area beyond the park and he sees a flash of movement in the darkness; whoever Lily scared away was still in the process of escaping, and they disappeared into the treeline within seconds, lost forever in the shadows.

 

He stands there panting softly, his hands shaking. _That was too risky._ "Lily, let's get out of here. It's time to go home anyway." He takes her hand and she protests a little but doesn't necessarily resist him as he pulls her away from the park. His mind was reeling. _Who was that? What were they doing here? Are they going to get us into trouble? No--that would get them in trouble too. What happened? Are they hiding from someone? They looked hurt. They were crying..._ He feels his heart hurting and he bites his lip. _Who am I to leave behind someone like that? I should have helped them. What if something was really wrong? I'm a terrible person._

 

 _"S-Sou!"_  Lily yelps, disgruntled. "Stop pulling so hard! Please, you're hurting me!"

 

"Ah! Oh, Lil, I'm so sorry. Here..." He leans down and kisses her hand. "How about... I give you a piggy back ride? Since I'm faster than you anyway. _And I know you looove piggy backs."_

 

Her face lights up instantly and she jumps up and down excitedly. "Yes! Yes! You can be my stallion!"

 

"Of course." He gets down on one knee and bends down a bit for her. "All aboard, then! Time waits for no one, princess." He smiles, easily covering up how unnerved he was with playful banter. Lily takes a running start and jumps onto his back. He stands up straight, hooking his arms under her legs and hitching her up on his back so that he can carry her more comfortably. She squeals happily, wrapping her arms around his neck and bracing herself against him as she rises into the air on his back.

 

"I'm so much taller now!" She yells, giggling. "Good stallion! You're the wildest in the west. Giddyup!"

 

Sounon takes off running back towards the orphanage, and he was exhausted by the time they made it back. He lowers her to the ground and she lets go, and once again he follows after her when she crawls through the gap in the fence. Once they're both through, she moves the board back in place so that all evidence of them having gone through it should be erased. He takes her to the girls' wing of the orphanage and gives her a foot up to crawl through the window.

 

"Now, don't say a word about this to anyone, you hear?" He says as he lifts her up, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

 

"I know, I know! I'm not _stupid,"_ She says. "besides, secrets are fun to keep! It's like a mystery only we get to be a part of, because everyone else is too much of a butthead to be allowed." She grasps the window sill and swings her legs over with the help of Sounon, dropping silently into the darkness of the other side. He can hear her dragging something over to the window so that she can stand on it, poking her head back up so she can talk to him. "What if we get to see that girl again? Wouldn't that be cool?"

 

He chuckles a little. "Yeah, maybe. Who knows." He pokes her nose. "Go on, now. I gotta get back to the boys' wing, and I need to hurry. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

 

Lily smiles and nods her head eagerly. "Yeah! Let's do this again, okay? Bye bye!" She reaches up and the window squeaks and trembles as she pulls it down, closing off the distance between the two and locking him out.

 

Sounon walks over to where he knows the boys' wing of the orphanage is, and he starts to climb the tree under his window. When he's hauled himself a few branches up, he leans back, nestling himself into the crook made by the branch meeting the base of the tree to rest. He curls up and runs his hands along his face and through his hair, giving in to his racing thoughts... thoughts about whoever he'd just seen at the park. About how nervous he felt about it, how guilty he'd felt for not reaching out to someone who was potentially injured or abandoned, his curiosity about the person and the situation related to it... but most of all, Lily's words from not long ago nipped at him, and despite everything, he couldn't help but kind of hope he'd see them again.


End file.
